


The Thrall of the Stars

by The_Reading_Dragon_Rider



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 08:54:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27468289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Reading_Dragon_Rider/pseuds/The_Reading_Dragon_Rider
Summary: (This is me writing stuff with characters based on me and my friends.)  A series of snippets in the life abroad the USS Eden, starting with the death of the First Officer.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 6





	1. The Beginning- T'Lona's POV

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EthelPhantom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EthelPhantom/gifts), [Nieri_is_a_cat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nieri_is_a_cat/gifts), [SilverWhiteRaven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWhiteRaven/gifts), [TotallyAHuman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TotallyAHuman/gifts), [PersephonesCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersephonesCat/gifts).



T’Lona grunted, mildly dazed from Khan hitting her earlier, as she was yanked to her feet by the augment in question. She could feel the cool metal of the phaser at the base of her neck and was pulled in front of the transmission screen, where she could see the bridge crew. T’Evoryn was near the bridge's forefront, appearing to have just turned around upon the transmission opening. Khan's voice called out, “I’m going to make this very simple for you…”

T'Lona saw T'Evoryn’s gray eye widen. “Commander!”

“Your crew for my crew,” Khan continued, ignoring her words.

“You have betrayed us!” T'Evoryn stated, voice calm even as her eye flickered in worry.

“Oh, you are smart, Miss T'Evoryn!”

T'Lona took a chance and called out, "Captain! You cannot-" and before more could be said, Khan whipped his phaser against her temple before kicking behind her knee. She collapsed at the double blow and lay on the ground, listening as Khan continued. “Miss T'Evoryn, give me my crew.”

“And what will you do when you get them?” T'Evoryn asked. T'Lona blinked, mind racing as she noticed the deliberate stalling for time.

“Continuing the work we were doing before we were banished.”

“Which, as I understand, involves the conquering and slavery of any being you find to be less than superior.”

“And shall I destroy you, Miss T'Evoryn? Or will you give me what I want?”

T'Lona glanced around the bridge she lay on; Lora (the crew had laughed many times at their similar name before beginning to call T'Lona Gabby in private, saying it was a joke about how "chatty Vulcans were") still lay unconscious on the ground in front of her. Simultaneously, the Admiral's daughter, Carol Marcus, sat a little ways away, clutching her broken leg. T'Lona gave a small (and hopefully reassuring to the human) nod before pushing herself up to her knees. As she did so, T'Evoryn told Khan, “We have no transport capabilities.”

“Fortunately, mine are perfectly functional; drop your shields," Khan ordered, a dark smirk on his lips.

“Captain, don’t…” Khan kicked her again, and T'Lona groaned but continued to try and get to her feet.

“If I do so, I have no guarantee you will not destroy my ship," her captain said.

“Then let’s play this out logically. Firstly I will kill your First Officer to demonstrate my resolve. Then if yours holds, I will have no choice but to kill you and your entire crew. Your crew needs oxygen to survive; mine does not. I will target your life support systems, and after every single person aboard your ship suffocates, I will walk over your cold corpses to recover my people. Now…shall we begin?”

There were a few silence beats, and T'Lona looked up to see T'Evoryn looking as defeated as a Vulcan would allow themselves to. “Lower shields.”

“A wise choice, Miss T'Evoryn." Khan kicked T'Lona hard in the head, and the injured Vulcan collapsed once more as he moved over to the helm. “I see your seventy-two torpedoes are still in their tubes. If they are not mine, Captain, I will know it.”

“Vulcans cannot lie. The torpedoes are yours.” T'Lona blinked at that; the Captain was planning something.

Khan sighed with relief as he transported the torpedoes aboard. “Thank you, Ms. T'Evoryn.”

“I have fulfilled your terms, now fulfill mine,” T'Evoryn demanded. T'Lona forced herself to stand finally and turned to face Khan.

“Well, T'Lona…it seems apt to return you to your crew. After all…no good First Officer should allow their crew to go down without them.” Khan laughed darkly as he beamed the trio to the Eden. Lora had also awakened at that time and had shakily gotten to her feet as well. They were then in the brig with T'Lona's security team members staring at them in surprise.

"Open the cell and let us out," T'Lona snapped as she and Lora rushed to get Carol up and ready to head to the medbay.

She could hear as the Captain's voice rang out, saying, "Eden, prepare for proximity detonation in twelve seconds.”

Lora glanced over at T'Lona, her eyes wide. "What's she talking about, Gabby?"

T'Lona glanced over and said, "It appears the Captain has armed the torpedoes. Whether it was done with Khan's crew in the torpedoes or not is another matter entirely.” Carol, though still having her face twisted in pain, hummed a pained agreeance. The ship shook, although not as bad as when Admiral Marcus had been firing upon them earlier, and T'Lona knew it was the torpedoes going off. Finally, the trio reached the medbay, where a team of nurses grabbed Carol from her and Lora quickly, dragging her over to a bed.

Ari appeared in front of her then and was smiling at her. “Good to see you, Gabs.”

“Did you help T'Evoryn detonate those torpedoes?” she asked, although she was fairly certain with the way she was rubbing one arm like after the first torpedo had slammed shut on it.

She nodded with a grin. “I sure did!”

T'Lona hummed. "Did she remove the rest of Khan's crew, or were they sent over in the torpedoes?"

“Ethel can be cold but never that cold. I’ve got Khan’s crew.” Ari rolled her eyes at the Vulcan while jerking her head in the direction of the cryotubes. “Seventy-two Human popsicles; safe and sound in their cryo-tubes.”

"Impressive." T'Lona hummed before the lights suddenly flickered off, and the ship began to swerve. T'Lona grabbed onto a nearby bed to prevent herself from falling.

Lora stumbled over to her. “The power’s failed, and we must be caught in Earth’s gravity!”

“Engage emergency lockdown!” Ari barked out, hurrying over to secure Carol to her bed, as all the other medical staff also rushed to secure the other patients. Other officers quickly fastened themselves into seats that came out of the walls. T'Lona and Lora hurried out and began to make their way down the halls, clinging onto the walls to keep themselves steady.

“One day, I’ve been off this ship!” Lora screams at no one in particular. “One day, and you break it!" The ship suddenly turned on its side, causing them both to fall, and they were able to grab onto a railing of a walkway to prevent from sliding away. Amidst the sounds of crewmen screaming in terror and things breaking around them, the evacuation order sounded like a beacon of false hope.

“There won't be any time for an evacuation if we don’t get power to stabilize the damn ship!” Lora yelled above the noise.

“Can we restore it?” asked T'Lona, mind racing as she attempted to figure out the best plan at that moment. ' _There are too many variables right now,_ ' she seethed to herself.

“Only from engineering! We have to get back to the warp-core!” Lora answered. The ship finally rightened itself, and they were able to stand up, but looking above them, they saw that one of the walkways had snapped with crewmen struggling to hold on for dear life. “T'Lona...” Lora breathed out, eyes wide with horror.

T'Lona looked away; seeing her crew in peril was upsetting to her, but the only logical thing they could do now was restoring power. “Lora, we must get the power restored. Come along!” They both hurried away, sprinting down the hallways and occasionally being forced to run on the walls as the ship kept on turning. Equipment was smashing, and crewmen were falling all around them, but T'Lona kept her focus in front of her, only allowing herself to think of restoring the ship. While running on one of the walls, she saw a gap up ahead. “We must jump, Lora!"

“What?” Lora screamed at her, blue eyes filled with fear and her long hair whipping behind her.

“Jump!” T'Lona ordered.

“Oh, God!” They both jumped over the gap. They reached engineering within a few moments, but the ship turned once more and threw them off balance. And with no wall and only a railing this time, they attempted to cling on to avoid falling – but then a large barrel fell down at them, and while it missed hitting them, it caused them to slip. They were dangling.

“T'Lona," Lora called out as her grip slipped.

“Hold on!"

“I can't…” Lora lost her grip, and T'Lona grabbed her hand before she fell and winced as she felt Lora's overwhelming fear. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the temporary chief of engineering, Nikolaus, carefully crawling towards them. However, she immediately became more preoccupied with attempting to keep her hold as her grip slipped in her moment of preoccupation.

Nikolaus was suddenly there, gripping her arm. "I've got you, Commander!” he cried as he braced himself against the railing.

“Oh, praise the stars! You're a lifesaver here," Lora told the man as the ship drifted back upright, allowing T'Lona and Nikolaus to pull them to safety. The three of them then proceeded to the warp-core.

“Even if we get the warp-core online, we’ve still got to redirect the power!” Lora told T'Lona and Nikolaus. “Someone has to hit the manual override!”

Nikolaus' eyes widened with realization. “It’s behind the reflector dish! I’ll flip the switch!” He hurried away as T'Lona and Lora continued towards the core, passing by the shuttle bay, which was in chaos; the crew were trying to follow the evacuation order, but the shuttles were falling everywhere.

All eyes looked towards her when she arrived, and T'Lona paused momentarily. “Everyone, remain calm and hold onto something!” she ordered before following Lora, who had continued rushing to the core.

But upon arrival, the computer stated, “Core misaligned.”

“No, no, no, damn it," Lora hit the panel.

“What is the problem?" T'Lona asked her, eyebrows furrowing.

“The core is misaligned! There’s no way we can redirect the power!” She turned to her with despair in her eyes. “The ship’s dead, Commander! She’s gone…”

T'Lona turned towards the warp-core in thought when the answer hit her. “No, I do not believe she is.” She hurried over to the door.

Lora realized what she was doing and cried out, “Wait, T'Lona! If we go in there, we’ll die! The radiation will kill us! What the hell are you doing?!”

T'Lona began to press the buttons by the door, unlocking it. “I’m opening the door, Lieutenant Commander. I’m going in.”

“But, we would be dead before we could do the climb.”

T'Lona paused at that, glancing over at her. “But, you are not making the climb.”

“What?” Lora said, confused before T'Lona regretfully used a Vulcan nerve pinch on her and dragged her to a chair, securing her to it. T'Lona pressed her fingers against Lora's psionic points along her face, transferring her katra to Lora's mind. Taking an unnecessary deep breath, T'Lona stepped away, opened the door that led to the core, and hurried inside. She crawled into the main reactor room and saw the misaligned core above her. With the radiation already burning, she knew she would die doing this.

“Forgive me, my friends.” And so she climbed. The radiation burned. The pain was biting at her skin, working its way under, but T'Lona blocked it out and kept going. The thought of her crew kept her going. She reached the core, and with the strength, she had left, she began to kick it into place. When it refused to budge, T'Lona growled as she kicked it as hard as she could again. Then the warp core realigned, throwing T'Lona backwards and knocking her out.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything was blurry when she awoke. She didn’t know how she was able to crawl back to the door. But there was strength still left in her, and while she knew there was no point – Lora wouldn’t be able to let her out, else she’d kill everyone in engineering – she couldn’t think of what else to do.

Lora was there when she arrived but disappeared as she reached up to close the other door behind her to speed up the decontamination process. Then, suddenly, T'Evoryn was there. She stared down at her, her eyes wide before she turned to Lora and ordered her to open the door. Lora refused, but T'Lona could see that she wanted to open it just as much as the Captain, but she couldn’t. Joz was there too, crying into Lora's chest, and all T'Lona could truly see of her was Joz's dark, short, and choppy hair.

T'Evoryn crouched down beside her, hands on the glass, and all the stoic vanished from her face. The emotion was there, and it was raw. Anger was the first emotion she saw, and T'Lona half expected her to start yelling at her. In fact, T'Lona almost appeared to consider it before realizing there was no point, and the anger faded.

“How…” T'Lona coughed from the radiation burning her throat. “How’s our ship?”

"It is safe now," her captain, her friend muttered to her as her long, pale hair swung to cover her eye patch. "You saved the crew."

T'Lona allowed herself to give a weak chuckle. "Good. I find the trick with the torpedoes was quite ingenious."

"You have always been reckless for a Vulcan. I decided to emulate you."

"As did I," T'Lona told her gently. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one."

T'Evoryn seemed to choke up. "Why?"

"You know why. It is the reason many of us would have done the same," T'Lona muttered.

"You are my friend."

"As you are mine." A tear escaped T'Evoryn's eye, and T'Lona gave a small smile. Raising her hand and pressing it against the glass in a ta'al, she continued, "Live long and prosper."

T'Evoryn didn't say a word back but extended the ta'al back, letting the Vulcan gesture of hello and goodbye say what she could not. T'Lona allowed herself one last smile as her vision grew dark, and she allowed the comforting embrace of darkness surrounding her. ' _Goodbye, my friends. Peace and long life to you all._ '


	2. The Broken- T'Evoryn's POV

T'Evoryn could only watch as the life drained from her twin's eyes and her hand drop from the glass. She sat beside the glass door that had separated her from being able to _save_ T'Lona and struggled to contain the wild emotions that threatened to explode from her, from feeling her bond with her twin's strain before snapping the moment she took her last breath. Finally, through the sadness and grief, a burning emotion filled her; it was a familiar one, born from being one of the three half human and half Vulcan children. It was anger, anger that was burning higher and higher. Anger that was turning to _rage_. Seething now, T'Evoryn stood up and turned to see Lora still holding the grieving Joz. "Lora, I ask that you stay here with the Commander until the medical team arrives." T'Evoryn told the engineer before running past. Reaching the bridge, she turned to Nieri. "Scan for life forms on the other ship," she demanded.

Nieri glanced up, furrowing her eyebrows. "Captain, that ship crashed into the earth after falling from the upper outer sphere. There is no way anyone could survive that sort of fall."

"He could," T'Evoryn gritted out, the broken bond pulsing in her mind. "And after he caused the Commander's demise, I find an irrational desire to hunt him down." She noted a shocked look cross Nieri's face, followed by grief as she swung back to her station.

It was in the middle of Nieri's scan that the entire bridge crew saw Khan falling from the top of his ship thirty meters and sliding down to the ground. "Oh my god," Nieri muttered, shocked. "That was thirty meters."

"Is it possible to beam him up?" T'Evoryn asked, rage still pounding through her veins. She heard Joz enter the bridge as Nieri responded.

"No, there's too much interference with others to do so safely." Nieri turned around then, eyes glinting with anger too. "However," she said with a tad bit of sadistic glee, "we can beam someone _down_."

T'Evoryn gave a stiff nod as she turned to leave. Joz stopped her as she passed, her black eyes searching T'Evoryn's. "Go get him and make him pay," Joz told her. T'Evoryn nodded again and ran off, smoothly snatching a phaser off one of… of T'Lona's security team members. Khan was not going to survive the murder of the USS Eden's First Officer. T'Evoryn would make sure of it.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T'Evoryn could hear the screams and panicked yelling of all the civilians when she was beamed down. However, she ignored them as distractions and, with the void of her twin's bond urging her on, her grey-blue eye snapped around the crowd before it landed on her target. However, Khan had noticed her as well and ran away. ' _You murdered my twin,_ ' T'Evoryn snarled internally. ' _You won't be able to simply run away from me, not for such a transgression._ ' (Absently, she could feel her other familial bonds from Spock and Father pulsing with concern but ignored it. She would talk to them after doing away with this vile monster.) She felt herself moving, running after Khan while dodging any obstacles Khan attempted to use to shake the enraged Vulcan off his tail. Eventually, Khan reached the recycling center and, as a automated trash shuttle was taking off, leapt onto it.

T'Evoryn leapt without hesitation after him, grasping onto the bottom of the shuttle and climbing her way up. As she was pulling herself onto the top, however, Khan took notice and kicked the phaser she held out of her hand, it falling down to the ground. Then he reached down and pulled her up before tossing her to the top of the shuttle. T'Evoryn couldn't find it in herself to care about the lost phaser, all she cared about in this moment was the fact that her twin, the one she had spent her entire life sharing a comforting bond with was _gone_ and the bond broken, shattered with the pieces scattering in the wind. And the reason for it was standing in front of her, not a scratch visible on him and it enraged her more than her could ever properly express. It was with the image of her sister that had laid dead just beyond her reach burning behind her eyes that T'Evoryn launched herself to her feet and attempted to get the upper hand; she even nerve-pinched the augment, which didn’t work. Khan tried to crush her head but T'Evoryn did not let her sister's insistence on training her siblings go to waste. With a quick movement, T'Evoryn snapped up her arms in between Khan's and snapped them apart at his elbows. The force of it made the augment release her and look of understanding and fear flickered across his face. Then he jumped off and landed on another garbage shuttle.

_No!_ T'Evoryn leapt after him. Khan, now obviously acknowledging it would be impossible to lose her, engaged her once more. But for all she fought, T'Evoryn could not get the upper hand and Khan once again was attempting to crush her head. T'Evoryn felt despair until, suddenly, Khan was hit with a phaser blast and was forced to let go of her once more as he fell to a knee. T'Evoryn could now see Joz standing there and blasting Khan with stun blasts from a phaser. Khan rose and tried to fight his way over, but it was enough of a distraction for T'Evoryn; she tore a piece of metal off the shuttle before using it to whack Khan’s head. Then, with anger still pulsing through her being, T'Evoryn grabbed one of Khan's arms, whipping around to where his arm was over her shoulder and, with all her might, slam down with his arm over her shoulder. A satisfying crunch filled her ears along with a cry of pain from Khan. She rained punches down on him now that he was defenseless and each punch that connected gave her a burning satisfaction. Vaguely, she could hear Joz crying out for her to stop, to let him live but she couldn't; Khan deserved to die, he… A memory flickered in T'Evoryn's mind.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_They were on Vulcan-that-was, having finished readying themselves to depart to Starfleet in the morning. She and T'Lona had opted to meditate outside, one last time, before retiring to bed. There was a gentle breeze that stirred up the red sand of the planet and the air was just the slightest bit cooler than was normal. They still sat in their meditation poses but they were simply staring up at the stars, the bond echoing a quiet contentment from both sides. T'Evoryn had spoken first. "Sister, do you believe that we will find more acceptance on Earth than here? I do logically believe so but I find that there is still a thread of doubt infecting my mind."_

_T'Lona hummed. "They will assume we are fully Vulcan, just as they have with Spock. We will be a commodity as Vulcan twins joining Starfleet together but nothing more. We will be left in peace."_

_T'Evoryn nodded, "Logical."_

_They sat in silence once more before T'Lona broke the silence once more. "I find myself curious as to what has happened to our once tormentors. We have all grown now and have not seen them since."_

_"Do you wish them any ill will, sister?"_

_"No," T'Lona said immediately. "I simply found myself curious. No person has yet to earn my wishing unfortunate situations, pain, or death. There may be a time where that comes but I find that, for the time being, even if I knew that someone was to kill me, I could not find it in me to hate them. No person truly deserves death. Now, come along sister. It is illogical to continue sitting here when we should be resting."_

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T'Evoryn paused at the memory and finally heard the words that gave her even more pause. "T'Evoryn, stop. We think he can save T'Lona!" Joz told her desperately, eyes wide in panic.

T'Evoryn eye flashed up, meeting Joz's, and she dropped him. She flicked open her communicator, satisfaction and hope filling her. "T'Evoryn to Eden. Come in Eden."

"Eden to Captain T'Evoryn. This is Lieutenant Nieri. What do you need Captain?"

T'Evoryn swallowed and glanced at Joz. "Three to beam up, Lieutenant."

"Yes, ma'am. We'll get you beamed up in a moment." T'Evoryn closed her communicator at that and turned to face Joz fully. Joz didn't ask if she was alright or how could she help. She offered a sad, understanding look before turning to watch the city fly by. T'Evoryn glanced once more at the fallen form of her twin's murderer, a dark satisfaction filling her as golden streaks swirled around the three.


	3. The Healer- Ariana POV

Doctor Ari watched as the bridge crew all lay scattered around T'Lona's room in medbay. She flicked her eyes to see Joz sprawled, asleep, on Lora. Lora had her eyes closed but Ari could feel the swirling thoughts and emotions, sadness and guilt most prevalent, that betrayed the fact she was not as asleep as she suggested. Ari walked to the replicator, retrieving a blanket to cover the duo, Lora opening an eye and giving a weak smile in return. Ari gave a small smile back and a gentle pat on the arm before turning her attention to the rest in the room. Nieri was sitting at the end of T'Lona's bed, reading through T'Lona's medical record with a scowl. Ari could almost physically hear Nieri's thoughts as her mind raced through the information and how T'Lona was reacting to the serum she and Ari had synthesised together. It was a risky move, as the two were unsure as to how T'Lona's mixed races would react to the serum, but no one had wanted to see her dead. The First Officer, despite arguing multiple times that she had found it only logical, had saved them all multiple times, had fought hard to keep the entire crew safe, until her last breath. It was something they felt they could never repay her for and, therefore, given the slim chance that they could  _ save _ T'Lona? The crew had seized the chance quickly.

Ari shook her head, clearing it of the distracting thoughts and allowed her mind to settle with T'Evoryn's. Her eyes flickered over to the Vulcan as she did. T'Evoryn was sitting stiffly by T'Lona's side and Ari listened as the captain forced herself to focus on doing paperwork.  _ 'T'Evoryn had taken T'Lona's loss the hardest, _ ' Ari mused, gently brushing her hand against Nieri's shoulders in an attempt to offer comfort. Ari pulled out her PADD as she stepped forward to monitor T'Lona's vitals.

"Her vitals are doing better," Ari quietly told the room, mindful of the peaceful feeling coming from the still sleeping Joz. "Within another few weeks, she should be possibly ready to wake up." T'Evoryn, having looked up at her words, nodded.

"Father and Spock are on their way. They wish to ascertain her well being as well," T'Evoryn told the group coolly, turning back to her PADD.

No one else said a word, simply returning to waiting in silence. Ari sighed to herself; they were not going to feel like themselves until T'Lona was awake. Ari could only hope that it would happen sooner than she predicted than later.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was weeks later and T'Lona had yet to awaken. Ari couldn't understand it! All scans showed that her body was back in perfect health and her vitals were as strong as before… before the warp core incident. Ari laid a gentle hand on T'Lona's wrist. ' _ Wake up, please, _ ' she pushed gently to her. ' _ We are all worried. Even Captain Kirk has stopped by, looking worried that you had yet to awaken. _ ' Ari's thoughts flickered. ' _ He also feels guilty. It was his desire to go after Khan but, when Admiral Marcus refused him, he had asked T'Evoryn to go. He feels it was because of his insistence someone go after Khan that you're in this position. _ ' Ari swallowed heavily. ' _ Just… please wake up to set the idiot straight. He refuses to listen to anyone, even Spock. _ ' Ari released T'Lona's wrist and took a deep breath. Maybe she should accept Doctor Daigle's offer to switch work for the day. Having a day away to sort through her confusing emotions would do her good.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ari cursed to herself as she examined Lora. Of  _ course _ Lora would have refused to 'burden' anyone from the Eden with T'Lona in the condition she was in. It was only when Lora had been found in T'Lona's apartment, insisting to T'Evoryn that, "we must be taken to New Vulcan, to the katric ark," that it was even brought to anyone's attention.

Ari heard her PADD beep, signalling that she had received the results from her scan of Lora. Her eyebrows furrowed. "What the hell?" There, where Ari had only seen one set in previous examinations of Lora, were two sets of synaptic patterns, or brain patterns, originating from her brain. She glanced up at Lora. "What the hell did you get yourself into?" she muttered, thinking. Sighing, Ari exited the room to see the bridge crew (minus T'Lona, her mind savagely pointed out) waiting. "I have an… unusual report from Lora, but I think it answers what is happening with her." Ari glanced at Joz, whose emotions were drenched in worry. "I am unsure how I could solve this but I believe I'll find a solution and help Lora."

"I do have an inquiry," T'Evoryn interrupted Ari, her gray eye intently sweeping across her senior crew. "Besides what me and T'Lona have informed you of, has Lora ever mentioned speaking with another Vulcan on our ways?"

Ari furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "No, I do not believe she has." When everyone else confirmed Ari's words, T'Evoryn turned to face Ari.

"I believe I know how to help both Lora  _ and _ T'Lona," were the next words to leave her mouth and there were only a few beats of silence before the hallway exploded with noise. T'Evoryn shook her head. "I must perform a mind meld with T'Lona in order to confirm what I believe. I was unaware of what it now appears T'Lona has done and, if I am correct in my assumption, it would explain why T'Lona has not awoken and why Lora is the way she is now." T'Evoryn turned, rushing down the hall as the rest of the group rushed after her.

Ari thanked her lucky stars that she had been paying attention when T'Evoryn suddenly stopped in the doorway to T'Lona's room. Eyebrows furrowing as she felt shock originating from her captain, Ari lightly poked her (making sure to not touch skin). T'Evoryn obediently shifted, only for the three that had followed her to stiffen in shock.

Where T'Lona had once laid just that morning, now stood an empty bed with the tube that held the nutrients T'Lona needed hanging loosely from its bag.  _ T'Lona was gone! _

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ari burst into the head office of the medical center, black eyes locking onto Doctor Daigle's form. "Doctor Daigle!" Ari bellowed, anger seeping out of her. The aforementioned doctor jerked up in his seat, eyes landing on Ari in confusion.

"Doctor Ariana?" He asked.

"Where is Commander T'Lona?" she demanded, only just remembering to use T'Lona's proper title.

"Is she not in her room?" He questioned. "And shouldn't you be talking to that cute, new doctor? Name starts with a K or something. Said that when you heard he was here, you asked him to watch over her instead."

Ari felt her blood run cold, as though it was attempting to become like a Vulcans. "I never asked anyone else to watch over her," she told him. "Do you remember what he looked like?"

"Handsome but would probably murder me if I tried talking to him first," Doctor Daigle said, a light blush coating his cheeks. "He had short, dark hair with dark eyes and pale skin."

"Was his name Khan?" Ari asked, now filled with unrelenting fear.

Doctor Daigle smiled, snapping his fingers. "That's it! I wouldn't worry too much, he seemed to know what he was doing and probably just wanted to take care of one of Starfleet's new heroes."

Ari didn't respond, turning to run and find her friends. (Oh, and she should probably tell Captain Kirk and T'Evoryn's family too.) Time was of the essence because now Khan had T'Lona and there was no telling what the augment had planned.


	4. The Realization- Lora's POV

Lora awoke to a whisper in her mind and chaos around her. ‘ _ Something is happening, _ ’ Lora hears T’Lona’s voice whispers to her before the others notice she has awoken. ‘ _ They are concerned, but something has happened. Keep calm; let them explain. _ ’ Then Joz glances up and catches her, clearly looking at the room.

“Lora,” she cries out, and then Lora can’t think about T’Lona’s voice, can only think about catching the Betazoid as she flings herself into her arms.

“Joz,” Lora greets her and blushes when her voice comes out a little rough. Then she glances around the room, taking in the fact Ari, T’Evoryn, Nieri, Captain Kirk, and Commander Spock are all there as well. “What happened?” she asks because they wouldn’t all be gathered in her room looking so grim if something hadn’t.

It is Kirk that speaks first. “T’Lona is gone,” he tells her, voice gentle despite the ways his eyes are tense. (‘ _ I’m not gone, I’m right here. Perhaps they mean my old body, _ ’ T’Lona mutters, and Lora wants to scream, wants to tell her that she isn’t there, but she doesn’t want to worry anyone any more than she already has.) He continues, oblivious to her inner commentary. “And we believe that Khan is the one who took her.” Lora can feel her eyes widen and even her inner T’Lona voice was silent.

“When did this happen?” Lora demanded, struggling to get uncovered and out of bed.

Ari rushed forwards. “No, no, no! You stay right there until I say otherwise. I’ll let them answer your questions  _ only _ if you’re laying down and resting.”

Lora glowered at nothing as she weighed her options. ‘ _ Illogical, simply inform her that you had a moment of confusion and your abilities are better elsewhere if you insist on moving. A look is ineffective to you getting what you want, _ ’ T’Lona tells her and Lora glowers more. She isn’t ready to listen to a voice in her head for advice. “I’m fine now, Ari. I’d be more helpful if I could go and get my equipment to attempt to track her.”

“No,” Ari tells her again. “You are laying right here, the others will answer your questions, and then I will examine you. Then and only then, will you be allowed to get up if I am pleased with your results.”

Lora sighed and gave a reluctant nod, conceding that the deal proffered was the best she could get from the worried sick CMO. “Fine, tell me what we know now.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lora lay in bed, fiddling with a small PADD as she thought. ' _ There are multiple reasons for Khan to want to kidnap my body, _ ' T'Lona muttered. Lora twitched. T'Lona 's voice was right but Lora wanted to know exactly why he took her. Lora frowned to herself as Ari finally entered the room.

"Well," Ari said, "Besides your dual brain patterns, everything else appears to be fine so I can't really hold you here." Then Ari shook a finger at Lora and threatened, "But if you start feeling sick or odd or  _ anything _ , I want you to come tell me or I'll team up with Doctor McCoy and we'll hypo you so much, you won't be able to tell up from down until we decide you'll be just fine."

Lora relieved smile and hopped out of bed. "Thanks Ari, I promise I'll tell you if I feel any odder."

Lora could almost feel T'Lona's voice frowning in her mind. ' _ Are you not going to tell the Doctor about me? It seems most illogical. _ '

"Don't want to worry her more plus we need to find…" Lora started muttering back before realizing that she was responding to the voice in her head. She gave a hard sigh, raising a hand to rub her forehead. This was going to be a long day.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lora sat in her apartment with Joz, who had insisted on joining her, and they were bouncing ideas off of each other. "What if we can find them by tailoring scanners to detect either augments or half human and half Vulcan life signatures?" Joz asked.

Lora shook her head. "We can tailor scanners for many things but detecting different life signs to that specific degree is impossible. Why did Khan take her? Was it to… To kill her?"

' _ Illogical. If he desired to kill my old body, it would have been easier to do so in the hospital and then escape. Instead he took me. Does he know his crew is alive? Perhaps that will yield results as to the reasons behind his actions. _ ' T'Lona offered and Lora had to admit that T'Lona was correct.

Joz was still thinking when Lora relayed T'Lona's words, with mild editing to make it her own words. Joz hummed, tilting her head in thought as she grabbed her PADD. "I'll message T'Evoryn. She'll know more about what happened after than us."

Lora frowned in thought as Joz did so. If Khan hadn't known about his crew, would he desire revenge or would he want to build again? Or perhaps he would desire both? But who would he ever view as  _ worthy _ to join him? It's not like… Lora's eyes widened in understanding. Scrambling for her own PADD and ignoring Joz questioning her, she pulled up Ari's contact details and sent a message out. " _ Ari, I know you said Khan was in the medbay when T'Lona came to get him for infiltrating the Vengeance. Did he ever express admiration for her? _ " her message read.

A few moments later, Ari sent a message back. " _ Yes, she had ordered him to get up and help her. He had stood up and said he admired her courage to order him about, that no one else had actually done so in this time, especially once they learned of him being an augment. Why do you ask? _ "

Lora straightened. "I think I know why Khan took T'Lona."

Joz's eyes widened. "I'll message everyone in the group chat. They'll want to hear this." Lora nodded absently, her and T'Lona's mind flying together, attempting to figure out where Khan would have taken T'Lona, to hide them until Khan could awaken her and make her the first of his next crew. They were no closer to solving it when T'Evoryn, Ari, Nieri, Kirk, and Spock all showed up.

"Miss Jozette told us that you believed to know why Khan has taken T'Lona," Spock immediately said, his dark eyes locked onto her. (' _ My brother is truly worried, _ ' T'Lona whispered, a little bit of guilt in her voice.)

Lora nodded. "I had asked Joz if Khan had known his crew had survived, if the torpedoes that exploded were empty. She messaged T'Evoryn to ask but I couldn't stop thinking about it. He wasn't going to kill her because if that was the case, he would have done it in the hospital. I considered what he would want to do just for his crew being dead and decided he would desire either revenge or to rebuild a new crew. It was then that I realized; he could choose both by taking T'Lona and waking her up but somehow inducing amnesia in her. Therefore, she would have no memory of us and join him as his crew against us. The perfect revenge in his mind." The room was silent as that sunk in. It would truly be the perfect revenge for Khan in causing the destruction of his crew. Taking one of their own and turning them against them. Lora almost wished she hadn't realized it.


End file.
